Dragon Master
by Shinigami Merchant
Summary: AU When Hiccup faces the Monstrous Nightmare in the arena Toothless comes to his rescue and in the resulting chaos they manage to escape from Berk and everything Hiccup once called home.
1. Prologue: Stoick

Dragon Master

Disclaimer: Regrettably How to Train your Dragon is not mine…but I really wish it was.

Synopsis: AU When Hiccup faces the Monstrous Nightmare in the arena Toothless comes to his rescue and in the resulting chaos they manage to escape from Berk and everything Hiccup once called home.

**Warning will contain HTTYD 2 spoilers**

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><p>Prologue I: Stoick<p>

It had all happened so quickly, one moment Stoick was watching helplessly as his only son was left at the mercy of a Monstrous Nightmare the next the entire arena had erupted into chaos as a Night Fury blasted through the caged roof of the ring. All that could be heard was the terrible cries of the battling dragons and all that could be seen was a dark cloud of smoke with the occasional flash of blue light silhouetting the figures of the dragons that snapped and clawed at each other; to Stoick's eyes it appeared as though a mighty thunderstorm had erupted in the centre of the ring.

When the smoke had cleared the two beasts were revealed; both still locked in combat. The Monstrous Nightmare had the Night Fury pinned but the smaller dragon fought back throwing the Monstrous Nightmare off before moving to stand between it and Hiccup. Should the Monstrous Nightmare move to attack his son the Night Fury would intercept it; crouching low and growling as it lashed out at the other dragon. It was almost as if… as if it was defending Hiccup, but that wasn't possible.

With one last slash and an intimidating growl from the Night Fury the Monstrous Nightmare backed down. This was his chance, pulling down a war axe mounted on the wall next to him Stoick charged the mighty beast. Most of the crowd had the same idea; jumping into the arena, drawing their weapons and moving to attack the dragon but many of them now found themselves sprawled across the floor, flung back from a swift slash or a powerful kick from the beast.

Still Stoick charged; he was a Viking after all and Vikings did not run. He raised his axe to bring it down upon the creatures head; in an instant he found himself held to the ground, the dragon on top of him pulling back its head ready to strike; but it stopped.

Looking to the side Stoick could see his son talking to the dragon, telling it to stop and it did. To say that Stoick was shocked would be an understatement. The dragon stared at Hiccup as he ran up to it, moving off of Stoick the dragon walked up to his son with its head bent low showing no signs of aggression. Hiccup ran to the Night Fury's side and to the great surprise of every Viking there threw his arms around the dragons head and _hugged _it.

The arena was silent, not a single Viking dared to even draw breath at the sight of the spectacle before them.

Taking in the sight of his son and the dragon the numbing shock that had frozen Stoick before began to drain away, only to be replaced by a burning anger as he realised what his son had done.

Slowly standing he watched the look on Hiccups face morph from one of relief to one of despair as he faced him.

"Hiccup!" Stoick couldn't keep the enraged growl that tore from his lips "What have you done?!"

His son at least had the decency to look ashamed as he met his fathers' eyes "I'm sorry Dad but you…" Hiccup paused seeming to choke on the words "you wouldn't listen!"

Before Stoick could say another word Hiccup had leapt onto the back of the Night Fury who then took flight escaping through the hole it had blasted in the cage bars earlier and disappearing into the sky.

"HICCUP!" Stoick voice roared into the now empty sky.

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><p>Stoick's eyes shot open as he sat bolt upright in bed, breathing heavily. It had been five years since that day in the arena and yet still the memory of that event sought to torment him.<p>

With a sigh Stoick dragged a large calloused hand down his face as he lay back down, turned on his side and tried to go back to sleep. His eyes had just begun to close again when the sound of an explosion reached his ears, not a second later he could hear the voices of the villagers yelling and screaming only to have them drowned out by the roar of a dragon that tore through the night. How he had not heard the anarchy taking place just outside his door, shaking his house to its rafters when he first woke up completely bewildered him, but it didn't matter.

Jumping from his bed Stoick slipped on his boots and grabbed the battle axe he kept by his bed. Running down stairs he almost fell when another explosion landed right outside, shaking the house to its foundations, regaining his balance Stoick leapt downstairs and threw open the front door.

Dragons swarmed in the night sky as the Vikings below rushed to their posts, preparing the catapults and torches. Making his way to the lower defences he barked out orders as he ran, half the village was already on fire, but this was nothing new for Berk, like the old saying: old village lots and lots of new houses. Stoick was in sight of the forge when Gobber hobbled out to meet him "So Stoick, what's the plan?"

Without taking his eyes off the gathering horde Stoick answered his old friend "take out as many as we can"

Gobber smiled as he adjusted his hook "ah send them running, the old Viking fall back, nice and simp-" he didn't get the chance to finish what he was saying, all eyes turned to the sky as a high pitched whistle tore through the cold morning air.

"NIGHT FURY!"

"GET DOWN!"

Blue fire hit two of the catapult towers, luckily the men operating them had had sense enough to jump as soon as they heard the telltale whistle, the villagers could only watch as both towers were engulfed in flames as they collapsed.

Stoick's eyes were not on the towers, his eyes were fixed upon the dark skies searching for the dragon, it would be almost impossible to track or even catch a glimpse of the beast in the darkness but he had to see it. Night Fury's were so rare, in his entire life Stoick had only seen one and the memory of that day had been burned into his mind; it had to be the same one and if it was…

The high pitched whistle cut through the air once more stopping Stoick's thoughts dead, following the noise unblinkingly he watched as another tower and one of the torches fell as a blast of blue flame destroyed both their bases. It was then that he saw it; the brazier that held the fire for the torch toppled falling to the ground, for just an instant Stoick could see a dark figure illuminated by the fire as it rained down.

It had only been a glimpse, a mere second of clear view however Stoick knew what he had seen; the dragon carried a rider.

"Hiccup" the name escaped him as a whisper and before anyone could stop him Stoick had taken off at a run, heading towards the cliffs as he followed the fading whistle of the Night Fury. He didn't even hear Gobber's calls for him to wait.

Tearing through the village at a desperate speed Stoick caught snatches of the battle that raged around him. Even with the Night Fury within sight Stoick did not forget his duty, as he ran he dealt with the dragons that dared to cross his path; in one case fighting off a Monstrous Nightmare that had kindly thought to set itself on fire, burning down a house that had only just finished being rebuilt two days ago; like he said 'old village lots and lots of new houses'. Once he had dealt with the dragons, sent them running and given his men new orders his eyes would return to the skies, the distractions only made him more determined to find his target.

The next he saw the beast it was flying just overhead banking sharply and heading straight towards the docks, he was only able to see it due to the torrent of flame it left in its wake after taking out the bridge leading to the dragon arena. Reaching the cliff edge overlooking the bay Stoick could just make out the dark silhouette of the dragon and its rider gliding across the black water. There was no way for Stoick to follow them now but still he watched as the Night Fury almost leisurely glided away from Berk and into a dense veil of sea mist that was quickly approaching.

So focused was Stoick as he watched the accursed demon vanish into the mist that he almost missed the low growl of a Deadly Nadder, before he had even fully turned Stoick was already throwing his axe but the Nadder was quick. Just as the axe was about to leave his hand three spines were already hurtling towards him, on pure instinct he jumped back, he avoided the spines but fell straight off the cliff.

With little more time than to think of a few choice expletives for his own stupidity Stoick buried the head of the axe straight into the cliff side as he fell, with an all too sudden jerk he slowed and then stopped. Coughing as the dust settled Stoick looked below only to be confronted with a drop of over two hundred feet, with nothing but the freezing sea and jagged rocks to greet him at the bottom. Looking up he could see the edge of the cliff illuminated by the fires of his burning village, there was no way for him to reach it as the sheer cliff face provided little purchase with which to climb. To make matters worse the axe held tightly in his hands gave a sudden sickening jolt as the rock it was embedded in cracked, adjusting his hold he searched for something to grab onto. His Frustration only grew as the darkness made his search impossible. "Loki's balls I need some light" to his great surprise his cry was answered… "I take it back" by a monstrous nightmare at the top of the cliff that had covered itself in fire and was now crawling down the cliff towards him.

The Nightmare appeared to savour the moment as it slowly made its way down towards Stoick, digging its claws into the rock it extended its neck ready to unleash a torrent of flames upon him, but this was both a curse and a gift from the gods for Stoick. The flames the Nightmare had clad itself in burned away the darkness that had surrounded Stoick allowing him to see.

Not five feet from where he clung to the cliff side was a rope, one of the many pulley systems that were used along the docks to unload the ships of their cargo. With one last glance at the cliff face and the dragon Stoick wrenched his axe free from the rock face and launched himself towards the rope just as the Nightmare unleashed its flame.

For countless seconds Stoick felt as though he was weightless, but that feeling swiftly came to an all too sudden stop as he grabbed the rope; his fist closed around it in a death grip as he swung wide and clear of the Nightmares flames. Stoick felt gravity take hold and pull him down with such a force that the flesh on his palm felt like it was being burned from his bones, but still he refused to release his grip. After a moment that felt like an eternity Stoick finally slowed and came to a jerky stop.

At some point during the fall Stoick had forced his eyes shut and now he struggled to open them once more, the adrenaline and fear that flowed through his veins conjuring images of the dark freezing water that sought to draw his life breath from him. He could hear them; the sound of the hungry waves crashing beneath him against the spires of jagged rock that rose from the depths of the unforgiving sea. Mentally slapping himself Stoick finally forced his eyes open; he was a Viking for Thor's sake.

He was still a good hundred feet in the air, the sea cliff far to his left and out of reach, but below him he could just make out the edge of the dock. Looking up he could only see light and smoke from the fires that continued to burn through his village but at least the Nightmare had gone, probably to find easier prey. The sound of battle at the top of the cliff that had rung so loudly in his ears when he had been barely hanging on the sea cliff now sounded like a dull rumble far in the distance; the war cry's and reptilian growls now muffled by the mist and smoke that surrounded him.

Making up his mind Stoick slid down the length of the rope, when he reached the end he was still a good 20 feet up in the air. Securing his axe in the holster he carried on his back he began to swing his legs back and forth slowly building up momentum; on the fifth swing he released the rope and fell lithely onto the damp wood of the dock below, rolled once and landed on his feet.

Crouching down Stoick drew his axe back into his grasp, wincing slightly as the leather hand guard chafed against the rope burns. He searched the mist that surrounded him; nothing could be heard and nothing could be seen, but that meant little. Dragons were masters of ambush; even a Gronckle with its large body and sometimes clumsy movements could become a deadly hunter with the ample cover provided by the mist and this set Stoick's nerves on edge. It wasn't a Gronckle he had seen disappear into the mist just minutes ago, it was a Night Fury.

Ages passed but still there was nothing.

Finally letting out his breath Stoick stood to his full height and adjusted his helmet as he gave the swirling mist one last glare. Assured that he was safe for the moment he turned back to the path that led to the village and began to make his way towards the stairs, still careful to keep one wary eye on the ever encroaching mist. If he could get to higher ground, just get clear of this mist that seemed conjured from Hel itself, he might be able to catch sight of it again.

Taking the steps that lined the cliff side two at a time Stoick was making good progress when suddenly he heard something. He froze as he skidded to a stop; it was distant and sounded distorted but he was certain it was there.

Thump!

The noise sounded again, clearer this time.

Thump!

It resounded through the air and drowned out even the noise of waves breaking against the cliffs below him. A cold sweat began to trickle down Stoick's neck, his throat became dry and he could hear the sound of his own racing heart in his ears, but even that didn't mask the sound of the rhythmic thump that seemed to be drawing ever closer.

Clutching his axe he gritted his teeth as he tried to back up towards the cliff side; at least if he had his back against the wall the blasted demon would be unable to take him from behind.

Another cautious step and another resounding thump!

"WHERE ARE YOU?!" His feral cry echoed off the sea cliffs as what little composure he had managed to maintain snapped.

His answer came when a dark form slammed into him from the right. A cry of shock escaped Stoick as he tumbled over the edge of the walkway and back down onto the docks below, the force he landed with caused him to lose the firm grip he had maintained on his axe and the last he saw of it was just as the handle tipped over the edge and fell into the sea.

Regaining his breath Stoick tried to struggle to his feet, but his balance was off making him unsteady. He nearly fell back to the floor when the boards beneath him buckled; the wood giving a terrible moan as something landed heavily on the dock in front of him.

He could hear the dreaded sound of sharp claws tearing into the wood as the creature approached; at first it was merely a shadow; a black form that seemed to shift and fade within the mist, but as it steadily grew closer he could see the cruel features of the demon begin to emerge. Black leathery bat like wings spread out behind the beast as it cautiously stalked towards him being sure to stay within the cover of the mist. Its head was lowered but a pair of deep green eyes that stared at him with a restrained ferocity glowed in the darkness. With a sweep of its mighty wings it cleared the remaining mist that coiled between them and for the first time in five years Stoick came face to face with his son.

Hiccup sat astride the Night Fury's back, from head to toe he was clad in dark tanned leather armour; the mask he wore obstructing his face from view. He was lean but tall and in Stoick's opinion looked nothing like a Viking, however the air of strength that surrounded him gave no signs of the fishbone of a boy that had once been his son.

Thinking fast Stoick cautiously searched for anything within range to defend himself with; from the corner of his eye he spotted a mess of weighted iron netting draped across a wooden post but with the eyes of the beast trained on him there was no way he could reach it.

His despair at this realisation was short lived as the black demon suddenly turned its head; looking away from Stoick and out towards the sea, the rider followed his dragons gaze and his posture tensed. Never one to miss a chance Stoick dove for the netting; as soon as he felt his fingers brush against the cold metal he heard the dragon cry out in alarm as it turned back to face him, but it was already too late.

Grasping the heavy metal chains he whirled upon the charging beast and let fly the knotted iron chains as easily as he would any bola. A fierce grin broke out across Stoick's features as he watched his improvised weapon fly towards the demon.

In the next moment everything seemed to slow; the net was almost upon the beast, from where he stood Stoick could see that it would successfully capture the dragon and its rider, the netting weighing down the dragons wings and tangling its limbs while effectively trapping the rider against the beasts back.

All his plans fell apart though as he gazed horror struck as the rider drew what looked like the hilt of a sword; with one elegant flick a blade donned if fire burst from the hilt and was swiftly brought down to cleave the net in two.

The twisted metal landed harmlessly in a cacophony of sound on either side of the demons crouched form, the cut links still glowing where the blade had easily sliced through them. As the rider dismounted Stoick backed away, he had nothing to defend himself with and he was alone but still he refused to go down without a fight; when he faced his ancestors in the hall of kings he would greet them with pride, not fear and shame, he would fight to his last breath.

The rider faced him, the smouldering blade still tightly gripped in his hand.

The blade was levelled at Stoick's neck, not a trace of remorse or hesitation reflected in the dark green eyes that he could barely see hidden within the darkness of the mask. The dragon stood behind him, its tail wrapped protectively around the boy; all together it made for a sight that was far more terrifying than the gates of Hel.

When the man finally speaks his voice is low and slightly muffled but each word is spoken clearly and Stoick cannot believe what he is hearing.

"Take the villagers and run!"

"…"

The world seems silenced by these words; confusion, anger and a deep sadness all battle for dominance within Stoick's mind but it is the confusion that wins out. For five years his son has been gone and when he returns he has all but levelled the villages' defences and now…

Before Stoick can even begin to form the questions that rage within his mind a deafening roar; louder than anything Stoick has heard in his life tears through the night air.

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><p>So there it is, please let me know what you think.<p> 


	2. Prologue II: Astrid

Author's note: Right heres the second chapter I hope you all enjoy it, I just want to take the time to thank everyone who reviewed, faved and followed the last chapter, I look forward to hearing what you think of this one XD.

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><p>Prologue II: Astrid<p>

Dappled sunlight descended through the trees reflecting off the calm water of the small pond that rested within the cove. Apart from the gentle rush of water and the occasional twitter of bird song the cove was quiet; the very air within it seemed stilled by the absence of its recent inhabitant.

Astrid sat upon a large boulder near the entrance of the cove: the same large boulder she had sat upon just yesterday sharpening her axe as she waited for Hiccup to arrive.

This time she simply sat; her arms wrapped around her legs, her head resting against her knees as she watched the light dance across the walls with a muted focus. Her axe lay abandoned; propped against the rock beneath her. It had been hours since the final test in the arena, hours since she had watched helplessly as Toothless had spirited him away, away from the danger, away from the villagers who had once shunned him, away from a Father that never understood him and…away from her. As she sat there staring at the retreating light her mind turned back to the dragon arena; back to the chaos that had mercilessly unfolded before her eyes. She had tried; Thor knows she had tried to help, running into the arena with no idea how she was going to save him but running and actually doing something for him while the rest of the village stood by. Stoick had been right behind her, racing to save his son with no thought to his own safety but in the end it was Toothless who had saved Hiccup, Toothless who had kept the Monstrous Nightmare at bay and what had the villagers done after seeing this…after seeing a dragon defend a Viking.

They had attacked him.

The last words that Hiccup had spoken still rang in her ears.

"You wouldn't listen!"  
>Over and over these words played in her head and there was no denying the truth in them. For so long they had viewed him as Hiccup the useless village screw up, the one who never fit in, could never follow orders and was never where he should be, but they were wrong…she was wrong.<p>

With the fading light and the encroaching cold Astrid knew she could not stay here much longer; at some point she would have to return to the village but even as a strong gust of chilled air sent a shiver running down her spine she couldn't bring herself to move. He had to come back and when he did she would be right here waiting for him.

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><p>At some point she must have fallen asleep as when she next opened her eyes the sun had fully set; her body was stiff and the cold had seeped into her bones causing an uncomfortable tingle to settle in her chest. Stretching she made to stand only to find that her legs had gone numb from sitting in the same position for so long; she took a few unsteady steps to try and get some feeling back in them before she began pacing along the waters' edge. After one full circuit of the pond she made to retake her place upon the rock only to stop when she had climbed half way up.<p>

Lowering herself back to the ground she turned to gaze at the darkened skies... they were empty.

…They weren't coming back.

She had waited here for hours; she was cold and she was hungry and now she would have to make her way back to the village in the dark and pray to the gods that her parents hadn't noticed her absence. She wanted to blame the pain in her chest on the anger she felt towards herself for being so stupid, for being foolish enough to believe that fishbone of a boy. Her vision became blurry and she viciously swiped at her eyes before the first tear could fall.

Frustrated, cold and now even angrier at herself she snatched up her axe and walked towards the exit of the cove refusing to look back.

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><p>With the little light provided by the quarter moon she made quick progress through the tough underbrush of the forest, within ten minutes she had reached the small glade in which she would often find herself working off a days' frustration by taking her axe and repeatedly embedding it in the trunks of the tall spruces that surrounded the clearing. Stopping in the centre she adjusted her grip before whirling round and with a cry burying her axe head in the nearest tree. For the next few minutes the once quiet glade was overtaken with the repetitive thunk of metal meeting wood mixed with the occasional war cries of the young shield maiden.<p>

When at last Astrid grew tired she wrenched her axe free from the tree only to throw it to the ground in frustration. Any other day her session of tree killing would have rid her of the worst of her anger but not today, as soon as she stopped the sharp pain that beat in her chest came back bringing with it fresh tears that only brought the frustration and anger anew. Taking in a shaky breath she picked up her axe and turned to walk to the village.

A muted thump and a sudden shadow was all the warning she got.

Her feet left the ground the instant the claws gently latched onto her shoulders; in an instant they left the earth behind and before she knew it she was being carried across the tops of trees heading back towards the cove. She would have screamed had her breath not been stolen from her, however when she managed to get it back she found herself laughing with the relief that had flooded her chest. Hearing the sound Toothless tilted his head down to get a good look at her; his great green eyes were awash with curiosity and Astrid couldn't help but laugh harder when she saw how cute the off spring of lightning and death looked.

Within seconds they had reached the cove and Toothless set her down as gently as he could but still she stumbled when her feet finally met earth again. By the time she regained her feet Toothless had landed and Hiccup was already dismounting from his back; without thinking she dropped her axe and all but ran towards him. Seeing her coming Hiccup began to backup, looking to Toothless for help then looking back at Astrid with wary but resigned eyes, the moment she raised her arm he tightly shut his eyes and braced for the blow he knew was coming. She almost laughed again at the surprised squeak that escaped him when instead of hitting him like he had thought she would she hugged him.

He was real…he was really here.

Pulling back she noticed the blush that now spread across Hiccup's face and as she realised what she had done she could feel her own cheeks begin to grow warm. Quickly letting him go she stepped away from him and tried to save some of her pride which seemed to have been left on the ground with her axe the moment she saw Hiccup.

"Uh…s-so, h-hi Astrid" Hiccup managed to stutter after a moment; not wanting things to become awkward she hid her smile with a sigh and stepped forward; Hiccup was still trying to form a sentence when she punched him lightly (by her standards) in the arm.

Rubbing his arm he gazed at Astrid with mock hurt and said "well at least some things never change."

"You deserved it."

"For what?"

"Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting here for you?" she allowed some of the anger she had felt earlier to colour her tone.

A look of confusion flitted across Hiccup's face and he looked back at Toothless only to get a shrug from the dragon, "um Astrid if you remember me and Toothless picked you up from a glade about three miles that way" he pointed in the general direction from where they had come before sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "Wait…you were waiting for me?"

"Hiccup!" she was getting angry again.

"Right, right sorry, you're right not the point." In an attempt to hide his embarrassment he walked back to Toothless and started to fiddle with some of the leather straps on the saddle but it was a mistake on his part.

Astrid's eyes went wide as he turned his back to her, even with the weak light of the moon she could see the damage that had been done to the protective leather vest he had made. Scratches and tears riddled the leather and in some places scraps of leather were peeling away, she was actually surprised she could see the damage as the leather had been turned black by the layers of soot that now covered it.

"What happened?" Before he could turn back to face her she had closed the distance between them and grabbed his shoulder, he flinched and pulled back, when Astrid looked at her hand she could see why; mixed in with the soot and burnt leather that now covered her hand was blood.

"It's not as bad as it looks" his quick dismissal did nothing to assure her.

"Let me see."

Hiccup refused to meet her eyes as he idly scratched Toothless beneath his chin, the dragon purred but now that Astrid was looking she could see the underlying worry that hung over Toothless.

"It's nothing, really" He said that as much to Toothless as he did to her and judging by the light clip he gave Hiccup over the head with his wing Toothless was about as convinced as she was.

She advanced refusing to take no for an answer, when he backed up to try and escape he found his way blocked by Toothless. Astrid levelled him with a stare that would have sent Snotlout running. "Let. Me. See."

Trapped Hiccup finally relented; with great reluctance he leaned his back against Toothless and started to remove the harness. The ruined leather fell to the ground in pieces barely held together by blackened strips of cord; Toothless lowered his head to sniff the discarded gear but quickly withdrew in favour of receiving another scratch along the back of his neck from Hiccup.

Walking forward Astrid picked up the remains of the gear however she nearly dropped them when she ran her hand along the panel that had covered Hiccup's left shoulder. A deep cut ran the length of the leather nearly splitting the material in two; she ran her fingers along the edge and felt the damp sticky residue of drying blood. That's when she realised; the squeak that Hiccup had given when she had hugged him hadn't been in surprise but in pain. She could see in now; the way Toothless stood so close to Hiccup protectively hovering by his side and how Hiccup's hand rested on the Night Fury as if the support of the dragon was the only thing keeping him standing.

"Take off your shirt and turn around" as soon as the words left her mouth Hiccup's face coloured with embarrassment.

"Look Astrid its fine I can take care of it myself, I have some supplies I brought in that pack yesterday."

"No you can't!" her voice came out more forceful than she meant it to but right now she didn't care. "Not unless you've suddenly grown eyes in the back of your head in the last few hours."

"As convenient as that would be, no I haven't"

"Then let me see." She couldn't hide the smug tone that edged into her voice.

Now it was Hiccup's turn to become frustrated, with a wide jerky movement he threw up his arms faced her and tried to argue. "For the love of- I knew you were stubborn when it came to fighting but this is ridiculous. It's just a small-argh" whatever he was going to say was cut short when Toothless swept his legs out from under him with his tail and sat on him.

Astrid had no idea what to say as she watched Hiccup struggle uselessly against Toothless; his legs were trapped and he was forced to lay with his stomach flat against the ground, for a few moments she watched him try to squirm free but eventually he realised it was pointless and gave up. Looking at Toothless he narrowed his eyes "aren't you supposed to be on my side?"

Toothless ignored the statement as he looked straight at Astrid and then down towards Hiccup's back before turning his head to look just behind them; following the dragons gaze Astrid studied a series of tree roots that trailed along the wall of the cove, there leaning against a rock was the basket that Astrid had seen Hiccup carrying yesterday.

She walked around the boy and his dragon heading straight for the basket; trying and failing to ignore Hiccup as he tried to get Toothless to let him up. "Toothless get off-ugh…where's an eel when you need one."

Astrid stopped rummaging through the pack for a second when she heard that and gave Hiccup a weird look "why would you want an eel?"

Hiccup met her eyes with a pleading gaze "get him off me and I'll tell you."

"Not until I get a look at your back" was her curt reply "besides what makes you think he'd listen to me."

He looked back at Toothless who was currently occupying himself by cleaning soot and ash from between his scales, when he noticed Hiccup looking at him he made a strange rumbling purr and playfully batted Hiccup over the head with his tail "…point taken."

After a few more minutes of rummaging Astrid managed to find several clean strips of cloth, a small cast iron pot and a jar containing a homemade salve mixed by Gothi that was good for healing cuts and burns; kneeling at the edge of the pond she filled the pot with water before walking back to where Toothless still had Hiccup pinned. Leaving the strips of cloth and the salve on a rock nearby so they wouldn't get dirty she finally turned to face Hiccup. The once green fabric of his wool shirt was dyed black by the blood that had soaked into the fabric but even with the dark colour she could still see the long tear that ran from his left shoulder to the centre of his back. Gently as she could she lifted the shirt and started to roll it up so she could actually get a clear look at the cut; she stopped however when Hiccup gave a sudden gasp of pain. Some of the blood had dried and begun to scab over around the edges of the wound which caused the frayed fabric to stick to Hiccup's skin; no matter how she got the shirt off now it was going to cause Hiccup pain so she decided to do it the quick way: "take a breath."

"What-AHH! Son of a…" his question was cut off as she swiftly ripped the shirt from his back.

When he regained his breath and managed to stop cursing her to the deepest realms of Hel she finally got a look at the damage; a long scratch ran down diagonally from his left shoulder to the centre of his back, the cut had bled a lot but it looked quite shallow, once she had cleaned it and applied a poultice it would most likely heal naturally and only leave a very faint scar.

"It's not as bad as I thought" she said offhandedly as she went to find wood to start a fire with in order to boil the water she had fetched, she made sure to take the shirt with her so Hiccup couldn't try to put it back on.

"I told you so" was Hiccup's surly muffled reply.

Seeing her move away from his rider Toothless finally allowed Hiccup to get up, as soon as he was free Astrid had expected Hiccup to stand and begin to protest again but instead he just lay there seemingly resigned to his fate.

In a few minutes she had gathered enough wood and kindling to get a decent fire going and was about to start striking a piece of flint when Toothless intervened. The small blue fire ball he spat made the wood catch instantly and left the kindling as a pile of ash; she thanked him with a quick scratch under the chin as she had seen Hiccup do earlier and set about putting the pot to boil. Within a couple of minutes bubbles rolled across the water's surface and steam rose steadily into the night air; taking a few strips of cloth she dropped them in the water and set the pot atop the rock to cool.

While she waited she watched Hiccup move closer to the fire in order to keep warm, seeing his rider was uncomfortable without his shirt to help him stay warm Toothless sat down next to Hiccup and gently wrapped his wing around the young Viking in order to keep the worst of the chill night air off of him.

"Thanks bud" Hiccup said as he closed his eyes and leaned closer into Toothless' side, he looked exhausted.

When the water had cooled to a reasonable temperature Astrid carried the pot over and kneeled down next to Hiccup; seeing her come Toothless retracted his wing but stayed close beside his rider.

She set about cleaning the blood from his back first being careful to avoid actually touching the wound; when she got too close she could feel Hiccup jerk beneath her touch so she would quickly retract her hand, afraid that she had hurt him, when he didn't try to move away she would continue. Finally she ran out of blood to clean and could not stall any longer; she scrunched up a clean cloth and lightly dabbed at the edges of the cut, when Hiccup didn't flinch away she began to gently clean the wound. He actually took it a lot better than she thought he would; apart from the occasional sharp intake of breath and muffled cursing he stayed silent, the only time he actually cried out was when she applied some of the salve to one of the dry pieces of cloth and pressed it over the cut, but he had gritted his teeth, clenched his fists and dealt with it.

Finished she stepped back to observe her work; with the dry strips of clean cloth she had tightly bound his left shoulder and upper back, completely hiding the healing cut from view. Before she had bound it she had been sure to cover the wound once more with the salve in hopes of preventing infection. All in all she believed she had done a good job and from the way she saw Hiccup appraising her work she could tell he thought so too.

"Can I please put on a shirt now" he quipped. Rolling her eyes she picked up a shirt she had discarded earlier while searching through his pack and threw it at his head; if he was able to joke with her then he must be ok.

"So how did you do it?" she couldn't stop herself from asking.

He looked down for a second simply studying the flames.

"I know you didn't get it in the arena, you weren't wearing your harness then" she pressed.

His eyes trailed to the ruined leather vest and after a moment he sighed as if in defeat. "I went back to the island."

For a moment Astrid simply stared at him in confusion so he clarified: "the nest."

Her eyes widened in disbelief "Hiccup what were you thinking?!"

"I don't know!" His voice grew louder and more defiant "but I had to do something, I couldn't sit and do nothing and you saw the way the village…the way my Dad reacted. I-I had no choice Astrid."

"No choice? Hiccup you're lucky you got away with only a scratch; you've seen what that thing can do." She paused for a moment watching the firelight dance across his darkened features, "for the love of Odin…it bit a Zippleback in half and swallowed a Gronckle whole what did you think you could do against something like that?"

"We brought the mountain down on top of it." His reply was so soft that for a moment Astrid wondered whether or not he had actually spoken.

"What?"

"The mountain…me and Toothless destroyed the supports that made up the network of caves above the pit; we brought the roof down on top of her." Astrid couldn't say anything, what was she supposed to say to something like that…

"Most of the dragons flew out the top when they saw Toothless start firing shots at the pillars" Hiccup went on when Astrid didn't speak. "That thing caught on to what we were doing and tried to take a snap at Toothless but part of the ceiling was already coming down on her so she couldn't move that well." His voice seemed dead as he continued "when she couldn't reach us she started breathing jets of flame randomly, one of the updrafts caught Toothless and we were thrown against a wall; I think that's when I injured my back" He gestured half heartedly towards the bandages, "there was quite a few stalactites still hanging in that part of the cave. After that we decided to get out of there…the cave was still coming down and there was nothing more we could do; she made a final snap at Toothless as we tried to fly out but one of the last rock pillars gave out and landed right on top of her; the last thing I saw was a wave of hot air, dust and ash coming straight towards me and Toothless."

Astrid found her voice again when he said that but it was quiet and almost choked with the hope she could feel building in her chest "so you killed it-it's dead?"

He didn't look at her, when he answered his head was bowed "…no."

"No? ...but you said-"

"I couldn't see when we made it out" his eyes were trained on the fire "the mountain was still collapsing in on itself and there was so much dust…not to mention the Thor damned mist that never seems to clear from that island." He picked up a stick and started drawing random shapes in the ash that surrounded the fire.

Astrid persisted even when he refused to face her "there's no way anything could survive having a mountain dropped on it."

"Technically speaking it was only the top of the mountain" he joked weakly.

"Hiccup, this is serious." Her voice was pleading, as if asking him to tell her what she wanted to hear but he couldn't.

"I saw them flying back-the dragons, she's still calling them…it's weaker but some of them can still hear it and she's making them go back."

The hope that had been steadily building in her chest suddenly died "So they're still going to raid the village?"

"I don't know" he wiped away some of the patterns he'd drawn in the ash and started again "Me and Toothless were going to fly back there tomorrow and try to figure out what to do next.

Toothless who had been lying next to the fire tracing the patterns that Hiccup made with his eyes looked up suddenly at the mention of his name, an easy smile made its way onto Hiccup's lips and Astrid couldn't help but relax slightly when she saw it.

"Like I said I saw a lot of the dragons fly off and the call she can make didn't seem as powerful so I'm not sure how many of the dragons she'll be able to enthral again" his brow furrowed as he thought.

"You keep calling it a she?" Astrid asked.

"Huh" was his intelligent reply.

"The huge Dragon you buried with a mountain" she said slightly exasperated "you keep calling it a she, why?"

The furrow in his brow only deepened when he finally looked at her "You're the one that referred to it as a queen…as far as I'm aware all queens are female."

A loud crack resounds through the cove as Astrid slapped her forehead "ugh I think you're taking what I said too literally."

He bristled slightly at the comment "well I can't keep calling it that thing or that huge dragon that tried to eat us can I!"

"Well what would you have us call it then?" she asked.

"Oh geez are we actually talking about naming the dragon that tried to kill us?"

"You were the one who brought it up" she defended.

"Err no I'm pretty sure you did" he had dropped the stick he was using to sketch by now and pressed the heel of his hand to his temple as if to fight off a growing headache.

"I don't see a problem, our ancestors have been naming dragons that have tried to kill them for centuries; just look at the book of dragons" Astrid tried to justify her statement but by the looks both Hiccup and Toothless were giving her it was clear she was failing. "Look you said so yourself we can't keep referring to it as that dragon or whatever."

With a look that screamed sarcasm Hiccup said "you know Astrid you're absolutely right, I'll hop on Toothless fly back to the village, just grab the book of dragons from its place in the Meade hall; you know avoiding all the Vikings that now see me as a traitor and add a few new pages to the book all about that giant red dragon of death that nearly killed me."

"You know I didn't mean it like that" she looked away slightly embarrassed but she soon turned back with a smirk tugging at her lips "but you just gave the dragon a name."

Again his intelligent reply was "huh?"

"Giant red dragon of death" at the sceptical look she received she quickly changed it "fine shorten it to Red Death."

For a second Hiccup still looked sceptical but then the look turned speculative " hmm that actually suits it quite well; I mean the last thing you see before it kills you is red so it works on more than one level."

Her smile grew wider at his words however it soon faded when she asked her next question "what are you going to do now?"

He was quiet for a moment, picking up the stick once more he returned to his sketching before he spoke. "Like I said I'm not too sure; I know that me and Toothless can't stay here for too long, I have to see where those dragons that managed to escape flew off to and whether there's a risk they'll come back and start attacking the village again. One thing I'm sure of is that I have to free those dragons trapped in the arena." His last words were said with a look of such determination in his eyes that Astrid had no doubt that he would do it but she still couldn't help but feel nervous.

"Are you sure?" there was a slight quiver in her voice that she desperately tried to convince herself was because of the cold.

"Definitely, you saw that Nightmare in the arena; it would have been fine if-if my Dad hadn't interfered" she couldn't argue with that, not just because he was right but because of the look of pain and rejection that flashed across his features as soon as he mentioned his dad.

Sensing his riders' distress Toothless shifted to rest his head atop Hiccups lap offering what comfort he could.

After a long tense pause filled with the sound of crackling fire and the scratch of the stick through the ash as Hiccup drew a pretty convincing sketch of Toothless he finally asked the question she knew he had been holding back. "How is he? M-my Dad…I mean."

She looked him straight in the eye; the pain rising in her chest as she wished she could give him a better answer "I don't know, after you left he barricaded himself in the Meade hall and wouldn't let anyone in…not even Gobber."

His shoulders sagged and he rested his head in his hands as he looked down in despair "oh Gods…why did this happen." His voice was small and laced with such pain that Astrid couldn't help herself; before she even realised what she meant to do she was kneeling besides Hiccup and gently wrapping her arms around him, she was careful of his shoulder; not wanting to undo all the work she had put into binding it. He didn't return her hug at first so she had began to worry she had done the wrong thing, but then; almost tentatively his fingers slipped round her wrist and he leaned into her hold.

So quiet she almost didn't hear it the words slipped from his lips "thank you Astrid."

The moment was broken when feeling left out Toothless nudged his way in-between the two of them; nuzzling and nipping at them both until he felt they were paying him enough attention, it was such a bizarre scene -seeing a supposed demon of the night behaving like an overgrown kitten- that soon Astrid and Hiccup found themselves dissolving into fits of laughter.

When Astrid finally managed to compose herself again she looked at Hiccup and was relieved to see that he was smiling once more, standing she dusted herself off and reached a hand out towards Hiccup; "well those dragons aren't going to free themselves, what do you need me to do?"

* * *

><p>An hour later found Astrid walking back into the village; her axe fixed securely to her back and a scowl set upon her face.<p>

She had barely made it two steps from the tree line when a voice called out to her "Who goes there!?"

"It's only me Hoark" she said as she walked into the light cast by his torch.

"Oh evening Astrid, what are you doing out so late?" he asked.

"Tree killing" Astrid snapped as she made to walk past him; he didn't dare stop her.

She walked along the perimeter of the outer houses following the route that the night watchman usually took; her pace was slower than normal and she was making no effort to go unseen. The edge of Gobber's forge came into view as she rounded a corner when a familiar voice called out to her "Astrid! Hey babe you're out late" perfect just who she was looking for.

"Snotlout" his name came out as a disinterested droll but he paid no attention to her tone.

Strutting up to her with his usual swagger Snotlout dropped his arm around her waist and tried to pull her closer to him "let me guess; with all the excitement today you couldn't get enough time with this manly serving of Viking so decided to come looking for me, am I right."

The reflex to gag at his words was so strong but for now Astrid settled for a grimace; she needed to have a better excuse for what she was about to do to him than he spoke to me.

Not noticing her obvious revulsion at his words Snotlout continued "well don't you worry babe I can always make time for you even when I'm on night watch, yep nothing gets past these eyes; especially not a beautiful babe such as yourself."

'Ugh how could he actually think any girl would like this' she thought; just then his hand started wondering and Astrid thanked the gods as in her eyes that was more than enough justification for what she was about to do to him. She grabbed his wrist and placed it in a lock; instantly he was on his knees pleading with her to let go; she ignored his incessant begging as she lined up the shot.

Adjusting her grip on his wrist she forced him to stand and just as he believed she was going to release him she delivered a perfectly aimed kick to the centre of his chest and sent him flying; right into the dying embers of Gobber's open forge.

Snotlout ran screaming from the forge as the seat of his pants caught fire, instead of doing the smart thing and heading straight for the water trough that sat just next to Gobber's shop he started running for the main well at the centre of the village his calls of "Put Me Out! Put Me Out!" ringing out clear into the night.

As he ran some of the embers that had stuck to his clothes fell to the ground rolling this way and that, a few landed in a pile of dry thatch that had been put aside as material for building new houses, in moments the bundles were ablaze and villagers who had been drawn from their homes and their posts were running this way and that to try and get water-which was made harder by the fact that Snotlout had jumped into the well in order to put himself out- to douse the fire with before it could spread.

In the ensuing chaos- which involved a brazier being lit unintentionally, the dragon alarm sounding, Snotlout climbing out of the well only to be knocked back in when he got hit in the head with an empty bucket and someone having to stop the Thorston twins who thought it was a good idea to try and barbecue a live sheep on the growing pyre- Astrid managed to slip away and make her way unnoticed down to the dragon arena. When she got there Hiccup and Toothless were already in the arena.

Hiccup was just about to release the lock to the door that held the Deadly Nadder captive; he turned to face her when he heard her approaching "you know when I said create a distraction I didn't mean set the whole village on fire" there was an edge to his voice that let her know he was having trouble holding back his laughter.

"You can thank Snotlout for that; I didn't expect him to try and run a lap around the village with his pants on fire" Hiccup couldn't hold back his laughter this time. When he finally stopped he returned his focus to the blocked door, the second his hand touched the lever Astrid instinctively took a step back; seeing her action Hiccup paused and she couldn't help but feel self conscious. Getting out of her defensive pose she nervously rubbed her right arm which all but itched with the need to be holding her axe and looked around the pit.

Astrid had never been in the arena after dark before and she had to admit it was creepy; with the sparse light cast by the moon and the torches from the village the shadows of the chains that made up the dome of the arena seemed to twist and writhe in the darkness, the low growls of the captive dragons echoed off the empty stone walls that surrounded her and each dark corner she could almost imagine some deadly predator concealed by the shadows that was just waiting for her to get too close. With no weapon or even a shield to defend herself with Astrid couldn't help but feel helpless.

"Astrid." She jumped when Hiccup called her name; so much of her focus had been on keeping herself calm that she hadn't even noticed when he'd left the door and walked up beside her "do you want to do it?"

She stared at him for a moment completely frozen.

Hiccup stared right back at her "Astrid?"

She stepped back again her arms folded across her chest "I-I don't know, I don't think that Nadder will be pleased to see me."

He smirked at this "You'll do fine Astrid; trust me." He took her hand and led her forward; she was still reluctant and only started walking when Toothless came up behind her and gently nudged her forward.

Hiccup led her to the lever and gingerly she pulled it down. The door released slowly; the sounds of clinking chains and creaking wood resounding through the pit as the log barring the door was raised. Any minute now the dragon would come charging out as it always did with its wings spread wide and it tail drawn back ready to launch a legion of deadly spines straight at her, any minute now…

…nothing happened.

Astrid was left wondering whether they had opened the right cage; Hiccup had already walked around the open door and was now standing in front of where the dragon should be but still nothing happened, not even a puff of smoke or a growl.

Cautiously she moved to stand beside Hiccup and gazed into the apparently empty pen.

It was dark but she could still see into the cage, what she saw surprised her; the Deadly Nadder could clearly be seen, its deep blue scales and yellow spines almost glowed in the wane moonlight. It was curled up in a far corner of the cage with its tail wrapped protectively around it and with its wings half spread as if the dragon was trying to hide itself from view; when Astrid looked closer she could see the poor thing was shivering with fear.

Whatever Astrid had been expecting this wasn't it; a dragon that had been the subject of many of her nightmares since she was a child, who she had been taught to fear and hate because of how dangerous they were; to see one cowering in fear like a terrified puppy was just...

Without hesitation Hiccup took a step towards the Nadder; Astrid's first instinct was to grab him and pull him back but the look he gave her when she reached out to him made her stop. The moment the Nadder noticed him approaching it went on the defensive; lowering its head and drawing its wings in close around it as it prepared to lash out at its would be attacker; Hiccup stopped where he was and raised both his hands in a placating manner to show the Nadder that he wasn't armed and meant no harm. Slowly the Nadder began to let down its defences; Hiccup didn't move he simply watched the dragon as it grew less cautious and more curious.

When the Nadder lowered its tail and began to sniff the air Hiccup knelt before it and stretched his left hand out; it took a moment but tentatively the Nader edged forward and still Hiccup didn't move. By this time Astrid was holding her breath, all she could hear was her own heart beating frantically in her chest and it seemed to only grow louder with each step the Nadder took but suddenly she could hear Hiccup's voice.

"It's ok, you're fine" she didn't know whether he was taking to her or the dragon but his voice was calm and soothing and it helped.

The Nadder now stood directly before him, her snout- this close Astrid could see the dragon was female- inches from Hiccups open palm; she was sniffing it curiously and for a second Astrid wondered if she would try and take a snap at it but then she closed her eyes and ever so gently pressed her snout into his hand. A deep hum of satisfaction that sounded like a purr escaped the Nadder.

With his hand still on the dragon Hiccup turned his attention back to Astrid, he took her hand once more but this time guided it towards the Nadder.

"W-what are you doing?" she hissed as she tried to pull back her hand.

"Astrid its ok, trust me."

Reluctantly, very, very reluctantly she let her hand be pulled forward until it rested just above Hiccup's own, then his hand was gone and it was hers that rested upon the Nadder's snout instead and to her great shock the dragon was still purring.

She laughed from sheer relief and amazement and began stroking the Nadder's face; the Nadder responded well to this and started nudging Astrid's hand as if asking for more. She didn't even notice when Hiccup had moved away from her to release the next dragon; it only took Hiccup a few minutes to free the rest of the dragons but by the time he returned to Astrid's side she had already become attached to the Nadder.

It wasn't until Hiccup tapped her on the shoulder that Astrid took her eyes off the Nadder, when she looked back Hiccup was already sitting on Toothless' back "we better go before the night watch come return to their posts" he said.

With a sigh of disappointment Astrid stepped away from the Nadder and watched with disappointment as the beautiful dragon spread its wings and took flight disappearing into the darkness. Toothless was about to take off as well but before he could Astrid had grabbed hold of Hiccup sleeve to stop him "you're going back to the cove, aren't you?" Astrid tried to ignore how her voice sounded slightly pleading.

Hiccup smiled as he answered "heh it's the only place I can go for the moment."

"Then I'll see you tomorrow?" she asked as she released the grip she had on his shirt.

"Until tomorrow milady" and with that he and Toothless disappeared into the night sky leaving Astrid to wonder; "what did he just call me?!"

* * *

><p>Author note: So there you have it, please let me know what you think and feel free to point out any mistakes I may have made. Thanks for reading.<p> 


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